Simple Back to School Alphabet Activities Part II

I really hoped you liked Part I ! If not just click here and you will love it! Did you try an alphabet activity? Pin it for later? I love quick, simple, DIY activities made from stuff around the house. Liam prefers less than traditional methods of alphabet recognition so I am constantly looking at conventional alphabet activities in a different way. I am not so crafty and my budget is low, but I think my activities make an impact. Most of my items are from the dollar store or craft store (with coupons) and the grocery store (since I am always there)! Plus the best part is that they are all hands on in some sort of explorative way!

I - Spy Alphabet Rice Sensory Bag and Sensory Search

I filled a gallon freezer bag with rice, alphabet beads, colored pony beads and other fun things (for another activity afterwards). I also had a simple alphabet printout sheet next to it. As he spied the letters he would circle them on the sheet!

Foot Print Alphabet Game

For this one, I simply cut out 26 dinosaur foot prints but you could easily use your child's hand or foot prints too! I wrote a letter on each one. To start we put them all on the floor and he simply had to find the letters to build the alphabet. We used a toy dinosaur to lead the way for some dramatic play (keep the dino off the lava!) and the gross motor play of winding through the house was fun too. (Write numbers on the back and you have a different skills game!)

Cookie Sheet Magnet Scramble

Oh so easy, I hate to include it! If you need something to fill a little time or occupy a younger child. Cookie sheets from the dollar store and magnets are a great match. We simply un-jumbled them and put them in order! If I get a bit crafty, I would love to print out and laminate a picture for each with the correct phonetic sound. Maybe someday soon ;)

Pool Noodle Alphabet Letters Lacing or Stacking

My husband sliced a pool noodle from the dollar store and I wrote the letters on them. We used clothes line to string them in alphabetical order and then we built some towers with them! We actually strung them on the 2nd floor so he could watch them slide down the line. He's traditionally not much of a lacing fan, but this had a nice gross motor element about it and he enjoyed the sound they made as they zipped down the line. Plus he had to keep going downstairs to "check" the letters. Lots of up and down = tired!

Fishing for letters:

I cut fish out of colored card stock and placed a paper clip on each one as well as a smiley face and an alphabet letter sticker. Liam fished with a magnetic fishing pole from a puzzle we have (or you can easily use a dowel with string and a magnet). He fished for letters and called them out or I would ask him to fish for a certain letter. I mixed it up to keep it exciting. Great for pretend play afterwards too.

Alphabet Paper Chain Making:

I like this idea for the beginning of the year and starting letter of the week. If you teach letters out of order you will need to take that into consideration if you plan to take off a link after you complete the letter. Though if you just want to make an alphabet activity out of it, then making the chain in alphabetical order works! Bonus, we worked on some fine motor skills while taping the links together.

Catch a Letter Water Play & Alphabet Wash Sensory Bins

This is an easy water bin that I fill with foam letters and a fish tank net from the pet store (great for sensory bins). Liam simply caught a letter, named it, thought of a word and worked on the sound the letter made. Also check out our alphabet wash we did in the Spring! (post here)

I hope you have enjoyed another collection of very easy (almost too easy) DIY alphabet activities! There are so many ways to tweak each activity to meet the developmental needs of the individual child. Make it easier, make it harder, but just make it! Homemade activities are so much fun and they teach children that many things can be made and not bought! Although some items, of course, are purchased for these activities, they are easily reused for a variety of other activities!

So many great ideas for alphabet activities. Here's another fun set of ideas!